theSun | THURSDAY JULY 23 2009
business
Petronas Gas to spend RM1bil
to revamp ageing plants
KUALA LUMPUR: Petronas Gas
Bhd is planning to spend more
than RM1 billion over the next
three years to upgrade its ageing
gas processing plants (GPP) in
Kertih, Terengganu, in order to
improve efficiency.
“We have got some major
expenditure going forward. In
terms of expenses, we need to
revamp the plants, having come
close to the end of their useful
life, which is about 20 years,”
said its chairman Datuk Wan
Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin.
Speaking to reporters after the
company’s annual general meet-
ing here yesterday, he said the
expenditure for the upgrading is
not going to affect company prof-
its, as it was part of the capital
expenditure allocated.
Petronas Gas currently oper-
ates six GPP, four of which are in
Kertih and an additional two in
Paka, Terengganu. The two plants
that will undergo upgrading are
the GPP 2 and GPP 3 in Kertih.
Touching on the development
of the Kimanis power plant project
in Sabah, Wan Zulkiflee said the
company is currently undertaking
some front-end engineering, add-
ing that, the facility is expected to
be operational by late 2013.
Asked about the contribution
from the project, Wan Zulkiflee
said: “We are not in a position
to determine the numbers yet as
we need to do more work to get
a better handle as to the cost and
capital expenditure.”
The 300-megawatt gas power
plant project located at Papar
is being jointly developed with
Yayasan Sabah to meet the grow-
ing demand for electricity in the
state.
The power plant and associ-
ated facilities, including the gas
pipeline will be operated by a
joint-venture company of Pet-
China wants greater financial
cooperation among Asean+3
PHUKET: China has called for
greater cooperation among finan-
cial institutions and regulators in
Asean+3 to tackle the economic
crisis.
Its foreign minister Yang Jiechi
said it was important for agencies
such as central banks and financial
authorities of the 10-member
Asean, China, Japan and South
Korea to cooperate and enhance
financial stability.
“We should intensify cooperation
among financial institutions, central
banks and regulators,” he said at
the Asean+3 Foreign Ministers’
Meeting held yesterday.
According to him, a key
mechanism was the Chiang Mai
Initiative Multilateralisation (CMIM),
a regional pooling reserve set up by
Quota-based 3.33b ASM units sold out
KUALA LUMPUR: All 3.33 billion
quota-based Amanah Saham
Malaysia (ASM) units offered for
sale by Permodalan Nasional Bhd
(PNB) have been sold out, said PNB,
Malaysia’s largest fund manager.
PNB offered the balance of 1.6
billion unsubscribed ASM units
including the bumiputra quota to
all Malaysians on Tuesday.
15
DiGi.Com’s Q2 pre-tax profit drops
KUALA LUMPUR: DiGi.Com Bhd posted a lower pre-tax profit
of RM323.94 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2009
from RM403.97 million in the same quarter 2008.
Its revenue increased to RM1.20 billion from RM1.19 billion.
The telco said the increase in revenue was mainly due to a
steady increase in the subscriber base although the average
revenue per user (ARPU) was lower at RM54 (2008: RM59).
For the first six months of this year, DiGi.Com recorded a lower
pre-tax profit of RM696.40 million compared with RM799.62
million in the same period last year.
It said the decline was mainly due to increased finance
costs pertaining to the additional borrowings, along with higher
Going forward, efforts are focused on cost-containment measures depreciation and amortisation resulting mainly from the com-
and Petronas Gas will not cease to look for growth opportunities in mencement of the 3G spectrum amortisation and accelerated
depreciation on certain end-of-life equipment during the current
developing its capabilities, experience and expertise.” financial period. – Bernama
ronas Gas and Yayasan Sabah,
with equity participation of 60%
and 40% respectively.
On the year’s outlook, Wan
Zulkiflee, who is also Petronas
vice-president of gas business,
said that challenging times are ex-
pected as the company’s earnings
remained heavily correlated with
power and industrial growth.
“Going forward, efforts are
focused on cost-containment
measures and Petronas Gas
will not cease to look for growth
opportunities in developing
its capabilities, experience and
expertise,” he added.
With cash and cash equiva-
lents of RM1.9 billion, Wan
Zulkiflee said Petronas Gas
would look for opportunities that
meet the company’s risk profile.
For the financial year ended
March 31, 2009, Petronas Gas
recorded a lower net profit of
RM928 million from RM1.092
billion last year, while revenue
rose to RM3.415 billion from
RM3.125 billion previously.
According to Wan Zulkiflee,
the lower net profit is due to the
rising cost of operations and fuel
gas prices.
However, Petronas Gas was
able to mitigate the increase in
operating costs via the imple-
mentation of a cost pass-through
arrangement with Petronas for
gas internally consumed, and
the execution of revised pricing
agreements with its utility cus-
tomers, he added.
At the AGM, shareholders ap-
proved a dividend payout ratio
of 96% for financial year ended
March 31, 2009 from 76% previ-
ously. – Bernama
the Asean+3 to address short-term
liquidity difficulties in the region.
He said the grouping should
continue to promote the CMIM and
finalise its agreement by year-end.
Asean and its three partners
agreed to strengthen the regional
self-help financial mechanism
with a total fund of US$120 bil-
lion (RM420 billion) as agreed by
Asean+3 finance ministers at a
meeting in Bali last May.
Under the proposed sharing
formula, Asean would contribute
20% to the pool with the rest from
the three partners.
China and Japan would each
contribute US$38.4 billion (RM134.4
billion) to the CMIM while South
Korea’s share is US$19.2 billion
(RM67.2 billion). – Bernama
The units were part of the 3.33
billion additional ASM units an-
nounced by Prime Minister Datuk
Seri Najib Abdul Razak when
launching the Malaysia Unit Trust
Week in Johor Baru on April 20.
This is the first time a
race-based quota system was
introduced for the ASM unit trust
scheme. – Bernama